Award-winning digital growth agency The SEO Works has officially become an employee-owned business marking a significant milestone in its evolution.
The Sheffield-headquartered agency, founded in 2009 by Neil Palmer and Simon Margetts, has transferred ownership to its employees via an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) structure. The move is designed to enhance long-term stability, reward staff, and embed the company’s people-first ethos at its core.
Now employing over 80 staff across SEO, PPC, Digital PR, Social Media, and Web services, The SEO Works has long championed what it calls “responsible growth”—remaining rooted in Sheffield while expanding its national footprint and picking up multiple industry awards, including the Global Integrated Search Agency of the Year.
CEO Ben Foster said the move to employee ownership is a natural next step for the agency. “I’m incredibly excited by this development,” he said. “Our transition to being employee-owned is the perfect evolution, reflecting who we’ve always been – a business driven by its people. Across the last 16 years, we’ve grown from an exciting local start-up to one of the leading digital growth agencies in the North – all thanks to our team of experts. Our future as an agency has always been in their hands, but now it’s official.”
The change in ownership structure won’t affect the day-to-day operations of the agency. The SEO Works will retain its current management and leadership team, with a focus on increasing transparency and boosting employee engagement across all levels.
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“For us, an Employee Ownership Trust was the obvious choice,” added Managing Director James Corry. “We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built here as a team, and of the brilliant service we deliver to our clients. This transition allows us to retain that, whilst bolstering the very thing that makes us so great — our culture. This is a very exciting step and gives a genuine stake in the business to all of our brilliant team members!”
The move was backed by Shawbrook Bank and Brabners LLP. Anthony Dean, Senior Director at Shawbrook Corporate Leverage, said: “We are delighted to support The SEO Works Ltd in their transition to an Employee Ownership Trust. The business has a strong management team with a clear vision for the future, and we admire their ambition to give employees a greater share in the strategic direction of the company.”
The transition adds The SEO Works to the growing number of Northern creative and digital firms embracing employee ownership as a model for sustainable, inclusive growth.
